Mounting means for foil type and similar elements

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes a support for a stationary drainage element for a paper machine extending across the Fourdrinier wire. The support comprises a flaring tenon for a dovetail slide incorporating means to adjust the distance between the flaring walls. The drainage element has a mortise slot for cooperating with the slide. The flare of the slide is adjusted by means of an actuator mounted at one end of the support. This abstract is intended neither to define the invention of the application, which is to be measured by the claims, nor in any way to be limiting as to the scope of the invention.

United States Patent [1 1 Grenier [541 MOUNTING MEANS FOR FOIL-TYPE AND SIMILAR ELEMENTS [75] Inventor: John E. Grenier, Cherry Valley,

Mass.

[73] Assignee: Lodding Engineering Company, Au-

burn, Mass.

[22] Filed: May 15,1970

[2]] Appl. No.: 48,666

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 722,960, April 22, 1968.

[52] U.S. Cl. ..248/1, 162/374, 254/104 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6m 13/00 [58] Field of Search ..248/285, 286, 287, 295, 298, 248/235, 245, 246, 412; 254/42, 104;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,852,222 9/1958 Bozar ..248/295 3,165,440 1/1965 Jordansson ..162/374 X 3,458,052 7/1969 Kann ..248/245 X 1111 3,713,610 1 1 Jan. 30, 1973 2,223,680 12/1940 Fischer ct al. 248/298 X FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 943,214 12/1963 Great Britain ..248/245 280,021 7/1913 Germany ..248/245 Primary Examiner-William H. Schultz AttorneyAlfred H. Rosen [57] ABSTRACT The disclosure describes a support for a stationary drainage element for a paper machine extending across the Fourdrinier wire. The support comprises a flaring tenon for a dovetail slide incorporating means to adjust the distance between the flaring walls. The drainage element has a mortise slot for cooperating with the slide. The flare of the slide is adjusted by means of an actuator mounted at one end of the support.

This abstract is intended neither to define the invention of the application, which is to be measured by the claims, nor in any way to be limiting as to the scope of the invention.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDJAH 30 I973 3.713.610

FIG. 2

John .4. b'razzier Mralg [aueafur I PATENTEUJAN 30 ms SHEET 3 OF 3 John a 5. firem'el Mead?! BQSEN & STEINHILPER MOUNTING MEANS FOR FOIL-TYPE AND SIMILAR ELEMENTS This is a division of application, Ser. No. 722,960 filed on Apr. 22, 1968.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Foil-type drainage apparatus for paper-making machines involves one or more drainage elements disposed in fixed relationship to the Fourdrinier wire and extending across the machine transversely to the direction of wire travel. Depending on the width of the paper being made, the drainage elements can be as long as 30 feet, or more. Examples of two different types of such drainage elements are found, respectively, in US. Pat. Nos. 2,928,465 and 3,323,982. The element are subject to wear, and for this and other reasons it is desirable that they be exchangeable and hence removably mounted on supports. US. Pat. No. 3,165,440 proposes a solution incorporating a dovetail slide on the support and a mating mortise slot in the element for removal and installation of the element by sliding it lengthwise, across the direction of wire travel. The utility of this solution for exchanging elements while the machine is running is obvious, but the problem of maintaining a tight fit on the slide, without binding the element to it so tightly that it cannot be moved, limits the length of the foil element that can be mounted in this manner. Other solutions employing an adjustable gib, which can be tightened by one or more bolts to lock a long element in place on a dovetail tenon, can indeed hold a long (e.g.: 30 feet) element in place on its support, but obviously such solutions will not allow the element to be changed while the machine is operating. The problems of maintenance and replacement of these elements has been recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,394, which proposes a structure for mounting each element on a supporting rail in a slidably removable manner. This structure, however, relies on springs to take up slack between the tenon and the mortise slot, and does not positively lock the element in place on its support, or hold it rigidly against the forces presented to it by a Fourdrinier wire moving at high speed. There is need for a mounting structure for strip-shaped elements like drainage foils for Fourdrinier paper machines which will enable long elements to be mounted and removed while the machine is running, which will positively lock the element in place on its mounting, and which will readily release it for removal when desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of the invention is to provide in apparatus for paper-making machines having replaceable strip-shaped elements, such as foils, sealing ribs, wear'strips and the like, a support for such elements on which the element can be locked in position, and when desired released and readily removed while the machine is in operation. Another object is to provide locking and releasing means which do not interfere with the removal or location of an element on its support. Another object is to provide a support incorporating locking and releasing means in a structure which is not complex or expensive to construct, which is durable and will retain its ability positively to lock and release without fatiguing over a long period of time, and which will not adversely affect the production of paper.

The invention contemplates, in general, the provision of a support or mounting means incorporating a dovetail slide having a flaring tenon and locking means within the tenon to alter the distance between at least a part of its flaring walls, and cooperating therewith a strip-shaped element having a mortise slot shaped to slide on the tenon, the slot being so dimensioned that when the locking means is in the locking position the tenon expands in the slot to bind the element firmly in place, and when the locking means is in the releasing position the tenon contracts so that the element slides loosely on it.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT The following description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the relationship between drainage apparatus incorporating the invention and the Fourdrinier wire of a paper-making machine;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view, in greater detail, of one of the drainage elements shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, partly broken away, of FIG. 2, showing the locking and releasing mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section on line S5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 (A-C) shows an alternative operating mechanism for the locking and releasing mechanism; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the operator used in the operating mechanism of FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a paper-making machine of well-known form employing a Fourdrinier forming wire 10 which travels around rolls l1 and 12. A drainage apparatus generally designated 13 is located beneath the upper run 10A of the forming wire. The drainage apparatus is supported on the side rails of the machine, one of which is partially shown at 14, and incorporates a plurality (in this example five) of drainage foils 15, each of which is mounted on a dovetail slide 16, which in turn is supported on a mounting rail 17. The rails 17 are supported on one or more frames 18 (one of which is shown at an end of the drainage apparatus), and the entire apparatus is supported on the side rails 14 by means of threaded studs 19 mounted at one end thereon, and end flanges 21 (one only being shown) held in place on the studs by nuts 22. It will be appreciated that the details of mounting drainage apparatus on a paper-making machine are not material to the invention, which is concerned only with securing a foil element 15 on its mounting rail 17 in a manner which firmly locks the element in place, and which allows the element to be unlocked and removed by sliding it lengthwise along the dovetail slide 16 while the machine is running and the forming wire 10A is moving across the drainage apparatus. Reference is now made to FIGS. 2-5 which show these parts 15, 16 and 17 in greater detail, together with other parts and components associated in combination with them.

The dovetail slide 16 is made of two elongated strips 16A and 16B of flexible material, such as stainless steel, which are fastened to the rail 17, as by bolts 23, of which one is shown in FIG. 4. Each strip has a base, a

side wall bent from the base at an obtuse angle, and a flange at the far edge of the side wall, bent at an acute angle to the side wall so that it is approximately parallel to the base. The bases are apertured for passage of the bolts 23 and are bolted to the rail 17, and the side walls flare outwardly from the base to the flanges. The flanges confront each other, and are spaced apart. A locking slide 24 is supported between the strips 16A and 16B, in the acute-angled corners formed between the side walls and the flanges of the respective strips. The locking slide is a sheet of flat stock, which may also be stainless steel. A plurality of indented dimples 25, one of which is shown in FIG. 3, are formed in the acute-angled corner of at least one of the strips 16A, and the locking slide 24 has a plurality of inwardly curving cam edges 26 (one shown in FIG. 3) along the edge confronting that corner, located to register with the dimples when the slide is in a first position for releasing the foil element 15. When the locking slide 24 is moved lengthwise within the dovetail slide 16, in either direction as represented by the double-headed arrow 27, the cam edges push against the dimples and thereby increase the distance between the strips 16A and 163 in the vicinity of the flanges, or the wider portion of the dovetail slide. There is thus provided a flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having within it means for altering the distance between at least a portion of its side walls.

The drainage element has a mortise slot 15A which mates with the dovetail slide 16. This slot is so dimensioned, relative to the slide, that when the locking slide is in the unlocked position (shown in FIG. 3), the drainage element slides loosely on the tenon, and when the locking slide is in the locked position (not shown), the drainage element is tightly bound on the tenon, and hence on the rail 17. A convenient mechanism for moving the locking slide between these two positions includes a key 30 having a finger 31 engaging an aperture 32 at one end of the locking slide 24. The key has a threaded shaft 33 which runs in a threaded sleeve 34, which in turn is mounted in a threaded bore 35 in a post 36 supported by bolts 38, 39 in a collar 37 mounted to an end of the rail 17. The sleeve 34 has an enlarged end 41 with a keyhole 42 in it, for cooperation with a wrench to turn the sleeve and thereby move the key 30 in one of the directions of the double-headed arrow 27. It will be seen that the entire operating mechanism described above is organized so that it can be made small enough to fit within the mortise slot 15A of the foil element 15, so that the element may slide on or off the dovetail slide 16 passing without interference over the operating mechanism for the locking slide 24. This mechanism can be located at either end of the rail 17, depending on which side of the paper-making machine has'room to allow the removal or installation of the element 15.

In FIG. 6 (A-C) the operating mechanism for the locking slide 24 employs a separate operator 51, to pull or push on a key 30.5 having a finger 31.5 in the aperture 32. The key has a bifurcated fitting 52 affixed to its end outside the tenon, the two arms of 52.1 and 52.2 of which have slots 53.! and 53.2 collinearly disposed in one side of the fitting. A pivot-platform member 61 is affixed to the end of the rail 17 at which the key is located, as by a bolt 62. This member has a pivot socket 64 in its pivot platform 63, to receive a pivot pin 55 located at one end of the operator 5]. The pivot platform 63 is affixed to an upright member 65 which is bolted to the rail 17, and which has a slot 66 in its top end, through which the shaft of the key 30.5 passes. The operator has a pair of fingers S6, 57 extending one from each side perpendicular to the pivot pin 55, which respectively engage in the slots 53.1 and 53.2 of the arms 52.1 and 52.2 when the pivot pin is located in the pivot socket 64 and the operator 51 is positioned between the arms 52.1 and 52.2 of the bifurcated key fitting 52. The pivot socket 64 is large enough to allow the pivot pin to pass through it, and is countersunk'at both sides of the pivot platform 63, to allow the pivot pin to be wobbled in the socket. The fingers 56 and 57 are cylindrical in cross section and can rotate in the slots 53.1 and 53.2. Thus, one can engage the operator 51 in the pivot socket 64 and the slots 53.1 and 53.2 and, using the pivot pin 55 as a fulcrum, one can force the locking slide in either direction, lengthwise, within the dovetail slide 16 (i.e.: in either direction of the double-headed arrow 27), to lock or unlock the drainage element 15.

While the invention has been illustrated in connection with drainage foils, it is obviously not limited to that use. Thus, it is contemplated to use the invention in suction boxes, forming boards, felt conditioners, sealing ribs, and wear strips generally to cite but a few examples. Nor is the invention to be limited to the operating mechanism or other details illustrated or described in the exemplary embodiment. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made, and it is therefore intended to define the invention only in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, said side walls being made of sheet-form wall members in a position providing a first distance between them at said wide part, a base member and means mounting said wall members on said base member at said narrow part, adjusting cam means movable in said first direction within said wide part of said tenon and cooperating means on said tenon for engaging said cam means and thereby altering the distance between said members in the vicinity of said wide part when said cam means is moved in said first direction.

2. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, adjusting cam means slidable in said first direction within said tenon between said side walls and cooperating means on said tenon for engaging said cam means and thereby altering the distance between at least a portion of said side walls, actuating means located at one end of said tenon for sliding said adjusting cam means in said first direction within said tenon, the cross-section of said actuating means in a plane parallel to a transverse section of said tenon being smaller than said transverse section, so that a body having a mortise slot cooperating with said tenon can pass over said actuating means while sliding on said tenon.

3. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, said side walls being made of sheet-form wall members providing a first distance between them at said wide part, said wall members each having a flange extending toward the other, an elongated flat adjusting member disposed between said wall members with one of its long edges located in each of the corners formed by said wall members and said flanges for altering the distance between said side walls in the vicinity of said wide part, at least one of said long edges being a cam edge, and cooperating means on said tenon located to cooperate with said cam edge to spread said wall members apart when said flat member is moved in said first direction between said wall members.

4. A tenon according to claim 1 in which said adjusting means is a flat cam that is slidable in said first direction within said tenon between said side walls.

5. A tenon according to claim 4 including actuating means located at an end of said tenon for sliding said adjusting means within said tenon.

6. A tenon according to claim 1 in which said wall members are each made from a separate shallow V- shaped piece of flexible material having first and second flat portions, the first flat portions of each member being fixed to said base member, and the second flat portions extending from said base member flaring outwardly therefrom to form said tenon.

7. A tenon according to claim 2 in which said actuating means comprises a first element fixed relative to said tenon and a second element fixed relative to said adjusting means, and operator means to move said second element relative to said first element.

8. A tenon according to claim 7 in which said operator means is an elongated member fitted at one end for pivotal engagement with said first element and at a point intermediate its ends for pivotal engagement with said second element.

9. A tenon according to claim 3 in which at least one of said wall members is fitted with indentations in the region of said corner for cooperating with said cam edge. 

1. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, said side walls being made of sheet-form wall members in a position providing a first distance between them at said wide part, a base member and means mounting said wall members on said base member at said narrow part, adjusting cam means movable in said first direction within said wide part of said tenon and cooperating means on said tenon for engaging said cam means and thereby altering the distance between said members in the vicinity of said wide part when said cam means is moved in said first direction.
 1. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, said side walls being made of sheet-form wall members in a position providing a first distance between them at said wide part, a base member and means mounting said wall members on said base member at said narrow part, adjusting cam means movable in said first direction within said wide part of said tenon and cooperating means on said tenon for engaging said cam means and thereby altering the distance between said members in the vicinity of said wide part when said cam means is moved in said first direction.
 2. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, adjusting cam means slidable in said first direction within said tenon between said side walls and cooperating means on said tenon for engaging said cam means and thereby altering the distance between at least a portion of said side walls, actuating means located at one end of said tenon for sliding said adjusting cam means in said first direction within said tenon, the cross-section of said actuating means in a plane parallel to a transverse section of said tenon being smaller than said transverse section, so that a body having a mortise slot cooperating with said tenon can pass over said actuating means while sliding on said tenon.
 3. A flaring tenon for a dovetail slide having side walls which extend in a first direction and diverge transversely to said first direction from a narrow part to a wide part of said tenon, said side walls being made of sheet-form wall members providing a first distance between them at said wide part, said wall members each having a flange extending toward the other, an elongated flat adjusting member disposed between said wall members with one of its long edges located in each of the corners formed by said wall members and said flanges for altering the distance between said side walls in the vicinity of said wide part, at least one of said long edges being a cam edge, and cooperating means on said tenon located to cooperate with said cam edge to spread said wall members apart when said flat member is moved in said first direction between said wall members.
 4. A tenon according to claim 1 in which said adjusting means is a flat cam that is slidable in said first direction within said tenon between said side walls.
 5. A tenon according to claim 4 including actuating means located at an end of said tenon for sliding said adjusting means within said tenon.
 6. A tenon according to claim 1 in which said wall members are each made from a separate shallow V-shaped piece of flexible material having first and second flat portions, the first flat portions of each member being fixed to said base member, and the second flat portions extending from said base member flaring outwardly therefrom to form said tenon.
 7. A tenon according to claim 2 in which said actuating means comprises a first element fixed relative to said tenon and a second element fixed relative to said adjusting means, and operator means to move said second element relative to said first element.
 8. A tenon according to claim 7 in which said operator means is an elongated member fitted at one end for pivotal engagement with said first element and at a point intermediate its ends for pivotal engagement with said second element. 